How does Tagore’s essay ‘Tapovan’bring out the influence of the environment on the Indian civilisation?OR What makes Indian civilisation distinctive, according to Tagore? Explain with reference to ‘Everything I need to know I learned in the Forest’.

How does Tagore’s essay ‘Tapovan’bring out the influence of the

1.	How does Tagore’s essay ‘Tapovan’bring out the influence of the environment on the Indian civilisation?OR What makes Indian civilisation distinctive, according to Tagore? Explain with reference to ‘Everything I need to know I learned in the Forest’.
Answer» In his essay ‘Tapovan’, Tagore has expressed his understanding of the Indian civilization. Tagore states that “Indian civilization has been distinctive in locating its source of regeneration, material and intellectual, in the forest, not the city.” Tagore asserts that India’s best ideas have come from where the man was in communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds. He adds that the peace of the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of man. Furthermore, he says that the culture that has arisen from the forest has been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life and these processes of renewal of life are always at play in the forest, varying from season to season, in sight, sound and smell. This culture of the forest has fueled the culture of Indian society. He concludes saying that the unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism, thus became the principle of Indian civilization.